We were staying with our friend, another German whom we met in Ireland, Anja in her hometown, Hannover. As luck would have it, we were just in time for the Schuetzenfest.
For us it was like a carnival or fair back home but the Schuetzenfest celebrates the shooting club. They hold competitions for both close and long distance ranges with air guns. Unfortunately, we never saw the competitions but we enjoyed the roller coasters and all the tasty treats available like cotton candy. We also ate plenty of pretzels (our favorite), some strange Bavarain sausage with a sweet mustard dipping sauce, and a Hannover tradition and specialty called Luten Lagen. "What's that?" you and apparently most Germans ask.
Well, LL is a dark beer which is poured into a large shot glass. You then pour a clear, corn alcohol into another shotglass. Here's the tricky part, you keep the larger beer shotglass between your pointer finger and thumb while the smaller shotglass with corn liquour is between your middle and ring fingers (see pics for visualization). When you lift both glasses at the same time the rims should be touching. When you drink, the clear liqour should pour into the dark beer which should all then go into your mouth. I imagine a beautiful cascade effect but all Mandy and I got was a little in our mouth and most on our chest and up my nose! Thank goodness they gave us bibs, I guess we looked like amateurs, and thank goodness for the Schuetzenfest...it's a cultural must!
